Apparatus for unloading vessels



.(No Model) IVLMAHER.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING VESSELS.

No. 258,237. Patented May 23, 1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

MARTIN MAHER, or BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,237, plated May 23,18 82.

' Application filed J anuary 30, 1882. (No model.)

unloading grainor other similar materialfrom vessels and. it consists ofa conveyor and its operating mechanism arranged Within the vessellengthwise of the same, in combination with one or more elevatorsarranged upon a shaft,

so as to be capable of a swinging movement with the shaft, and also aneasy horizontal movement back and forth along the same, the whole beingconnected with the necessary operating mechanism, as will be moreclearly hereinafter shown by reference to the drawings, in which--Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus and a portion of theinterior of the vessel to which it is connected. Fig. 2 is an end viewof the apparatus. Fig. 3 represents a plan or top view of the same, andFig. 4 is an enlarged cross section through one of the shafts upon whichthe elevators are hung.

In the drawings, A in Fig. 1 represents a. portion of the interior of avessel, 0. beinga portion of the deck, to which the hangers B forsupporting the shafts b b are secured by bolts or in any well-known way.The shafts b b are provided with one or more grooves or keyways, 0,(shown in Fig. 4,) and the holes in the upper elevator-pulleys, c, areprovided with keys or feathers to tit said grooves, so that theelevators may be moved easily along the shaft without turning thereon,and so that the pulleys cwill have to turn when the shafts b or b areturned. The elevator-belts are tightened by means of set-screws D (seeFig. 2) and a sliding box, at. There may be two or more elevators, E,arranged on a shaft, and they may be placed all on one side of thecon-Veyer or arranged on shafts on both sides, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

move with it.

.The conveyor consists of an endless chain, c, arranged on the usualchain-gear wheels, F, one at each end, the chain(or belt or cable) beingprovided with a series of plates, f which The endless chain c rests on abed, G, which bed is provided with vertical sides 9, so as to form akind of trough or vessel to hold the grain, along which theplates f movein the direction of the arrows (see Fig. 1) when the device is inoperation. The conveyer is operated (also the elevators) by means of adriviug-pulley on one or the other of the shafts b or N, which turns(through the gear-wheels H H) the gear-wheel'h and it will be seen thatthe turning of the shaft 1) by means of a pulley, as aforesaid, arrangedin any well-known way, will operate the shaft 1) and all the elevatorsthereon, and that the proper movements will be transmitted to the othershaft, W, by means of the shaft I and the gear-wheels i i i on itsopposite end.

In place of the conveyer shown, an ordinary screw-conveyer may be used;but it would not answer the purpose so well. A

In operating with my invention when the vessel is full of grain theelevator-legs are all turned so as to lie on top of the grain, fromwhich position they swing down as they take away the grain and throw itinto the conveyer, which carries it forward and drops it, so that it canbe taken up by an ordinary elevator into an elevator-building. When theelevators E swing down into a vertical position, after taking away allthe grain in their path, they are turned up and moved horizontally alongthe shafts b 1) into the proper position to take out another portion ofgrain, which operation is continued until the greater portion of thegrain is taken away from the vessel.

I claim as my invention-- 1. An elevator, E, arranged upon a groovedshaft, 1), so as to be capable of both a horizontal movement back andforth along the shaft and a swinging movement as described, incombination with a conveyer arranged to move at right angles, or nearlyso,to the movement of the elevator, and the operating mechanism of theseveral parts, substantially as specified.

2. The shafts l" b each provided with grooves 0, and an elevator, E, andtheir operating mech d anism, substantially as specified, in combinationwith a conveyor provided with a series of plates,f, arranged within atrough, G g, and

their operating mechanism, substantially as described.

MARTIN MAHER.

Witnesses JAMES SANGSTER, R. N. SANGSTER.

